


REMEMBRANCES

by StarWars1977



Category: Star Wars - The Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-22 17:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6088776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarWars1977/pseuds/StarWars1977
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Han Solo needs to repair some wiring on the FALCON and finds something from his past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	REMEMBRANCES

REMEMBRANCES

Han Solo and his co-pilot/friend Chewbacca, their arms filled with boxes, made their way through the entrance hatch of the MILLENNIUM FALCON. The corner of one of the boxes Chewbacca was carrying  
caught on a length of wiring at the wall and pulled it out; the wire snaking and looping out onto the deck. The Wookiee gave a short growl and Han looked back. 

"Don't worry about it. I'll tape it back. You take these to the supply room, unbox and stow them where they belong. Han put his boxes on the deck. Chewbacca gave an agreeing woof.

"I'll find some laser tape and secure that wire before one of us trips over it and breaks a leg." Han told Chewbacca.

 

Chewbacca loped off toward the supply hold with his arm load and Han began rummaging around a 'junk' cubby-hole in the side of the ship. Searching through the assortment of odds and ends, a few things dropped to the floor; a claw hammer, some platinum nails, insulation padding. "Where's that laser tape." He muttered to himself, rummaging further back in the hole....by feeling, he grabbed a small cylinder. "There it is." With a last pull, he found what he was looking for...and a small metal box fell, the lid flinging open and five objects scattered out onto the deck.

The unexpected noise caused Han to look down...and see the five objects lying on the deck. A frown wrinkled his brow...then recognition dawned in his eyes.

He knelt down on one knee, reaching for one of the pieces. "My medals." He said to himself as he picked up one...a copper Crescent, the attached red and yellow ribbon faded with age.  
"My Survival Medal." He smiled to himself at the thought of how he'd earned that medal at the Military Academy. The memory began to run through his mind.....

 

He gave a chuckle. 'If Luke thought Hoth was cold he should have been on that ice planet with me...the ice was so cold and thick you could build a fire on it and not melt through the ice. Bet  
Luke never ate any ice rhabbiat. The desert was no better..sand everywhere, seeping into all my equipment, blowing so hard you couldn't see. Luke should have felt the heat on that tri-sun piece of real estate...and the swamp, so dense and humid, it was like breathing water. But, I made it...two full days at each place.'

 

He placed the medal in the box and reached for the next one...a Bronze Star...for bravery...The orange and brown ribbon attached also faded by age. "If the Commander only knew how really scared I was...cleaning out those two enemy bunkers; sometimes fool-hearty-ness is mistaken for bravery'. He gave a short laugh...he still was, even at his age now, pulling off some of those fool-hearty pranks. He dropped the dulled-by-time star in the box,.

Picking up the third one, a platinum shield for Marksmanship...its blue and silver attached ribbon almost the same shade of color now. "Hope I've kept myself as quick now and I was back then.' He smiled remembering the first time he'd shot a military grade blaster....he was knocked flat on his behind....and took a lot of good natured ribbing over that. He began to roll over in his mind the sharp shooting exercise that won him the medal....Four targets placed at North, South, East and West directions with him in the middle. He had to fire into the dead center of each target, turning quickly in each direction for three revolutions...' Han smiled. He did it, not missing a target, in five marked seconds flat! Just like the Kessel Run, he wondered if anyone had beaten that record in these past years at the Academy. After hefting the medal in his hand, he dropped it into the box.

His Silver Wings...he picked up the entwined wings... it's silver and gold ribbon moisture marked. He nodded his head in remembrance...what acrobatic, defensive, evasive and diversionary moves he had made in that small, one man Midge Fighter. He ran a calloused thumb over the etched wings. A smile spread over his face as he remembered the Commander had stuck him with the pin as he placed it on his military jacket. The Silver Wings joined the others in the metal box.

The largest, most decorative medal remained.....THE MARK OF EXCELLENCE... the purple ribbon, now faded by time into a deeper shade. It was half the size of the palm of his hand. Only three others had been honored with that medal in the Corellian Military Accademy. "I was so nervous that day...Just a kid of twenty-three solar revolutions...all the Military brass at the ceremony, the recruits, the other soldiers...another unbidden smile played across Han's lips...his Father and Mother looking on, she had tears in her eyes. He could see the pride on their faces...even his older brother and younger brother and sister were there. "I'm going to be just like you!" His younger brother had told him at the reception after the Awards Ceremony. He'd never shaken so many hands or received so many congratulatory slaps on the back in his life. The Commander even made a special toast.

 

Then....just two, short galactic weeks later....betrayal...Han shook his head at the memory...how could that have happened! It was a set up...he knew it when he handed the papers over to the two soldiers and they handed him currency...caught red handed!!!! They wouldn't give him a chance to explain...and he glimpsed the Commander, hiding, watching from behind a tree. just like a coward!

But...Han shook his head to clear the memories..he'd think about that another time.

Those medals..they meant nothing now. How could a 'traitor' be honored on his home planet. He had prized those medals..proud of the service and accomplishments he'd done for himself and his home world. They shined in mockery. Then the trial. He remembered the slumped in shame shoulders of his father....his mother wouldn't even look at him and his brothers and sister were no where to be seen.  
And Arianna...he'd lost her forever. He had to run...helped by Chewbacca...and they'd been on the run ever since.

Would he ever be able to go back to Corell...to see his family...to straighten things out...he dumped the MEDAL OF EXCELLENCE into the box.

Chewbacca woofed, rounding to the hatchway, he saw Han hadn't yet taped up the pulled wire. "What are you doing?" The Wookiee had asked him.

"Just picking up the trash, Chewie." He answered him. "Just picking up the trash."


End file.
